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Determinism, Skepticism, Mysticism and Subjectivism: Four roads to hell To be sure, there are numerous variants of them all, so we're in no danger of them becoming stale; there are even bizarre hybrids, which pull in BOTH directions at the same time. The basic doctrine of Mysticism (wherever it crops up), is that the world we experience through our senses and thinking, is an "illusion". The "everyday world" is a shabby castoff, concealing a "more real" one, from all but the "enlightened." When filtered through the distorted lens of Mysticism, every topic becomes pretty much the same. Quantum physics, instead of serving to EXPLAIN aspects of the Reality discovered through sensory evidence and scientific processes, is instead the final deathblow to science itself. Pathetic take-offs on "Schroedinger's cat" and the "uncertainty principle" are now the watchwords of every New-age Guru and con artist out there. Miss Cleo and the Raelians have taken their accustomed place beside Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam as harbingers of a "secret truth". Now, the prosaic (and verifiable) facts of Reality can be shrugged aside whenever somebody needs there to be Flying saucers piloted by Bigfoot or Jesus, or a miraculous healing, or a "New cutting-edge theory". "Thought-experiments" dominate physics, (where apparently just THINKING about something now qualifies as sufficient), and you can be almost guaranteed a publishing deal if you can convincingly "trance-channel" Starshine the 52,000-year-old high priestess of Alpha Centauri. You have doubts? Well that's just because you're not "enlightened enough". And besides, if the "Ineffable mysteries" of "strange physics", Spirit guides, and "Sacred scripture" aren't your cup of tea, there's always Subjectivism; Reality is whatever I, (or my family, or my race, or my economic class) say it is. If I say there's a world-spanning Zionist (or European, or Bourgeois) Conspiracy keeping "my people" down, then that's "my" truth. That old, stuffy idea of "real facts" is just "cultural prejudice" or "linguistic abstraction." Who cares? After all, our "Skeptic" friends have shown us that knowledge about "reality as it is" is impossible. Why? Because we have senses. Nobody can know anything for certain --- Except the fact that nothing can be known. So who are YOU to tell me that "my truth" isn't true? More to the point, how can you expect me to NOT believe the stuff I believe? Determinism has demonstrated conclusively that whatever I believe or think or feel or DO – all of my thoughts, actions, desires and values – are externally-controlled. I can't HELP but be a Neo-Nazi (or Wiccan, or Christian, or Raelian, or Scientologist, or Enviro-Feminist), it's in my: genes, upbringing, social class, education, peer group.....etc...etc...etc....ad nauseum, ad infinitum. No wonder people don't become Objectivists: the alternatives are just so easy and comforting. Every one of them effectively absolves their adherent of responsibility....effectively, the responsibility of Consiousness. Mysticism holds that "true Awareness" consists of perceiving ANOTHER dimension "beyond normal awareness". So why bother trying to "make sense" of what fellow mystics say? No need to provide EVIDENCE for it. As the oft-repeated quotation states: "I believe it because it is absurd". Subjectivism makes life easier, too. If there appear to be real-world facts that contradict my viewpoint (whatever their nature, source, or content), they are automatically irrelevant. I, (as a Black, Homosexual, Religious believer, Communist, Environmentalist, etc.) have a subjective form of "Truth" – one which need NOT be beholden to such petty "Western conceits" as facts, non-contradiction, observation, or logic. Skepticism gives a quick and easy answer if I'm ever asked to "prove" my conclusions (or even give EVIDENCE for them) – "Human knowledge is inherently flawed. We can never know Reality "in itself", only it's "appearance" to us. Therefore, my personal mis-perception of it is JUST as valid as YOURS." But perhaps the easiest, and MOST comforting option, is determinism. By its sublime hand, all notions of responsibility, Individualism, freedom, choice, values, etc. are consigned to the realm of myth: "Don't blame me – it's all in my Genes! Sociopolitical forces beyond my control, y'know....I can't help being a drugged-up wife beater, its economic conditions." Comforting. At EVERY TURN an easy out, from the tedious task of learning about the world – of figuring out HOW TO LIVE. With these handy excuses and justifications for mediocrity, it's no WONDER "civilization" is effectively a thing of the past. Our present state of advanced technology, Individual freedom, and relatively-sound education cannot last (as amply evidenced by such phenomena as the Jerry Springer show, "the Devil made me do it" as a defense for murder, the rise of bizarre cults and gurus, and the Roussea-esque "Neo-pagans" and "Eco-Primitives." My purpose in this article was not merely to be a "total bummer" as regards our opponents (although the perilous nature of current trends can NOT be stressed enough). My purpose is to remind us that EVEN WE OBJECTIVISTS are not immune to the Sirens' Song appeal of these bad ideas. If you ever catch yourself thinking "the only reason they don't get it is because I have superior insight", you might be headed toward a "mystical interpretation" of Objectivism. If you habitually back your claims up with "well that's how it seems TO ME", then maybe, just maybe, Subjectivism is beginning to rear its ugly head. "Who's to say?" is the classic refuge of convulsive, pathological Skepticism. And excusing your conduct or conclusions via 'that's just how I was raised" (for example) may indicate the beginnings of a Deterministic slide. We cannot afford to do these things, lest our opponents take them as signs that we are indeed NOT what we say we are, and therefore, they are right. We must guard against them lest Objectivism degenerate into "just another viewpoint", floating in the restless see of "Mass Appeal". We must strive to do BETTER than that.
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